Many girls spend their whole lives dreaming up the perfect wedding. It’s fun to create Pinterest boards of color schemes, dream dresses, hairstyles, florals and even seating charts. Dreaming of the perfect wedding is exhilarating, it’s a day all about you after all. It’s supposed to be the best day of your life! So, after getting engaged, planning all the details and actually getting married, did it live up to all the expectations? Was it everything I could ever dream of?
Before getting engaged, I never really thought much about my wedding. I had some rough ideas about what dresses I liked, but that was pretty much it. It seemed silly to me that so much emphasis is put into one day. It’s as if everything else is just supposed to be downhill from there. After I got engaged in December 2017, I started putting the gears into motion. At first, I was shocked by how much weddings cost. Even “modest” or smaller weddings can cost upwards of $20,000. This price tag stuck with me all throughout my months of planning. I kept thinking back to how much I was spending, and whether or not I’d rather be putting a down payment on a house. Being a young bride also really impacted my approach to wedding planning. I wanted to make sure everything seemed mature, so my guests knew I was serious about this commitment. But I also wanted it to be youthful and fun since I am only 19.
Related: 5 Things You Need to Know About Wedding Planning
As my wedding date approached, I was really happy with where things were. I had found the dress of my dreams at a good price, our venues were perfect, decorations were in order and all of our families were coming. We chose to have a buffet-style meal prepared by our families at the reception, so we could avoid the per-person cost of food. Even with everything going well, it’s hard not to doubt your decisions. I was worried of making a mistake or things going wrong on this important day. Nevertheless, I was ecstatic to be getting married.
The wedding day was a blur. I woke up at 7:00 am, and before I knew it, it was 10:00 pm and the reception was over. It was a day full of family, friends and love, which is all I really wanted. There were a couple of mishaps during the day, but nothing major. First off, the archway for the ceremony was falling apart when the sanctuary was being set up. Thankfully, my dad and aunt managed to get it fixed before any of the guests arrived. Second, my husband lost the keys to the car that we were going to drive off in after the reception. They turned out to be in my brother’s stuff the whole night, and we were able to leave on time. Neither of these impacted the day or the amazing time we were having. At the end of the night, my wedding really was everything I dreamed of and more. Not because of the dress or the decorations, but because I was surrounded by people who love and support me.
Looking back at my wedding now, almost 2 months later, there are a couple things that I have learned:
1. Worry less
It doesn’t matter if you cut corners to stay within your budget. It doesn’t matter if the archway is broken or you lose the car keys. None of these small details will matter 20 years from now when you look back through the photo album. So relax, even if something does go wrong, it’ll make for a funny story.
2. Appreciate the people around you
Between your wedding party and your family, there’s a ton of people helping. Make sure you take the time to thank them on your wedding day. They’re the ones who will make your day feel so magical.
3. It doesn’t matter what other people think
If your top priority is making sure everyone is happy, you’ll never be satisfied. If someone is upset about your food or venue, don’t listen to them. After all, it’s your wedding day.
4. This is just another day
Undoubtedly, too much emphasis is put on weddings in our society. This does NOT have to be the best day of your life, in fact, I hope that it wasn’t. There’s a lifetime full of love and adventures ahead, so don’t feel like your whole life is living up to this one day.
Getting married was such a wonderful experience. Make sure to do what feels right to you. Whether that means getting married at 19 or never, just remember that all that matters is your happiness.